17th Asian Archery Championship-2011 in retrospect

Md Mahfuzur Rahman SiddiqueIntroductionMany disciplines practiced in the world of games and sports first appeared in the modern Olympiad much before the introduction of a World Championship under the supervision and control of an umbrella organisation in the form of an international federation. Archery and Football are two cases in point. Football was included in the II Olympic Games, Paris, 1900. But the international governing body of this game, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded on 26th October 1904 in Paris at the initiative of Jules Rimet. Likewise, Archery, the most ancient sporting pursuit, was introduced in the said Games of Olympiad with individual and team men and women events three decades earlier than the establishment of its international controlling organisation in 1931 named Federation Internationale de Tir a'l'-FITA. The first World Football Champ was held in Montevideo of Uruguay in 1930 while the first edition of World Archery Competition were organised in 1931 in Poland. On one score Archery played a pioneering role. That is the inclusion of women events with due recognition to the concept of women empowerment, equality of men and women in the pursuit of games and sports. As a fast growing popular discipline of the Summer Olympics it was also featured in the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games, 2011, Singapore. Under the umbrella of the world governing body-FITA (now renamed World Archery) and its ContinentalRegional constituting units many tournaments are being held throughout the continents, regions and countries of the member associations numbering around 150. Of these, World Championship, Continental Championships, Regional Championships and several editions of Grand Prix are notable. Bangladesh Archery Federation also had the privilege of hosting a regional (South Asian) Championship, two editions of Asian Grand Prix and an Asian Youth Championship within a short time of its activities commenced in 2001. Host and participants The 17th edition of Asian Archery Championship took place in between 19th through 24th October, 2011 in Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The participation of Bangladesh Archery Federation in the meet was confirmed in the meeting of its Executive Committee on 23rd June 2011 with the President Lt Gen Md Mainul Islam, awc, psc in the chair. In all 22 Asian countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, China (People's Republic of), Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong (SAR), Indonesia, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea (Republic of), Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in the Championship. India, Iran and Malaysia fielded the highest number of 16 archers with equal number of men and women. Competition format, No of contestants In all 171 athletes (99 men and 72 women) of 22 participating countries competed in individual and team events. These were: * Men individual Recurve * Men individual Compound * Women individual Recurve * Women individual Compound * Men team Recurve * Men team Compound * Women team Recurve * Women team Compound * Recurve Mixed teams * Compound Mixed teams First Vice-President of Asian Archery Federation (AAF) Sanguarn Kosavinta of Thailand performed the duties of Technical Director. A panel of eleven judges under the chairmanship of Davood Nematiniya of Iran and one each from the member associations of AAF namely China, Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand adjudged the competition. The host Iran was represented by four judges including one woman. Frankie Hoong of Singapore assisted by Mrs Zuleikha of Indonesia officiated as Director of Shooting. A three-member jury was formed to dispose of appeals of which one was the General Secretary of BAF, an Executive Council Member of AAF and the Secretary General of South Asian Archery Federation Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol. Kotaro Hata was deputed by World Anti Doping Agency to watch over any possible case of doping among the contestants. Village and venue A portion of the five-star hotel Persian Esteghlal in the posh area of Tehran with a very high occupancy rate was turned into the archers' village for the purpose of the Championship. Constructed some decades ago this hotel is a unique structure of Iranian architecture and boasts as a tradition of the capital city. The athletes, team officials along with the technical officials of the meet were housed in this spacious, beautiful hotel. The dignitaries of AAF and FITA were of course accommodated in the newly constructed annex of the hotel with symmetric design and architecture. The competition venue was inside the yet-to-be completed Azadi Sports Complex, the latest and the largest of the three in Tehran. For some disciplines the practice and competition field with ancillary facilities and structures have already been completed, for some the construction work has been completed except final touch of fine tuning and yet for some the construction work is fast progressing but the works finished thus far is completely suitable for conducting any large scale international meet. The Archery Centre of Azadi Sports Complex falls in the third category. It took 20 to 30 minutes and during traffic congestion around 45 minutes to reach the venue from the village and vice versa in limousine buses. A large field of lush green grass with the barren low-height peak of the Elburz Mountain range in the background was the competition venue for all men and women events. The adjacent newly made practice field covered with artificial turf facing a huge gate at the target faces end which architecturally resembles the sentry-post of an ancient fort. Over the earthy coloured gate a sculpture of an archer is set with a bow in hand attempting to release the arrow from the bow string. The sculpture over the gate signifies the great Persian archer described in one of the greatest epic poems of World Literature 'Shahnama' of Ferdousi, the great Iranian poet. All other essential services in connection with the meet say medical centre, result compilation desk, judges' room, VIP lounge etc were rendered from makeshift structures made of hardboard and corrugated iron sheets fixed on a frame of varied size according to the numbers of probable users. Once done with the temporary structures will be dismantled and used for other purposes. This is no doubt a cost-efficient measure. After the Championship the temporarily fabricated structures will be shifted elsewhere for alternative use or dismantled to clear up the occupied space of the archery complex to make the whole area airy which in effect will make the area environment-friendly. Opening ceremony Opening ceremony of the Championship was held in the Azadi Sports Complex on the afternoon on 19th October, 2011. Ceremonial march past of athletes and officials of the participating teams carrying their respective national flags took place in the main competition venue. Only exception was the contingent of Chinese Taipei who in international sports competitions use their sports flag. Well-dressed school-going young kids were assigned to carry the placards inscribing the country names were placed in front of each team. At the right end of the field national flags of the participating teams except Chinese Taipei, flags of World Archery, AAF and Iranian Archery Federation were hoisted atop huge flag posts. The march past of archers and team officials was followed by recitation from the Holy Quran, the holy scripture of the followers of Islam, the religion practiced by overwhelming majority people of the host country. The opening session was addressed, among others, by Iran Archery Federation President Karim Safai, AAF Senior Vice-President Sanguan Kosavinta and Sung Ho Um (Republic of Korea), Secretary General, AAF. The most striking feature of the ceremony was that no government official was included in the speakers' list. The officials of the local organising committee mostly comprising the Executive Committee officials of the Iran Archery Federation were most conspicuous in the entire show. After declaration of formal opening, the contingents, invited dignitaries, the AAF officials, officials assigned to officiate in the competition and others on duty including the accredited media personnel took seats in the designated areas of the hall where the next event, the - cultural function was held. Some of the foreign ambassadors accredited in Tehran were also among the dignitaries present. The cultural show mostly depicted the age-long Iranian culture. The audience luxuriated in the items presented by the artists in traditional costume commensurate to each item presented. Among those were a folk song of Khorasan, the traditional 'Zurkhaneh' or 'Varzesh-e Pahlavani or Bastani' and a stick dance performed by two men wearing colourful dress. The accompaniment of instruments both wind and string including 'Shanei' was also a striking feature of the show. Zurkhaneh is very popular in Iran. It is an integral part of ancient Persian or Iranian culture and is also the national sport of Iran. Performers of different ages wearing traditional costume performed Zurkhaneh in the floor below the podium. It is performed with accompaniment of ancillary instruments played from the podium. The members of the troupe rhythmically performed holding a flat iron bar laden with metallic discs. While some of the performers held coloured wooden mallets in hands. They threw the mallets upwards from one hand and artistically and caught hold by the other maintaining a rhythm with the ones dancing with the iron bars loaded with discs. A kid of barely 6 to 8 among the troupe was the main focus of attention of the audience. The performance was attentively supervised by a 'Morshed' or guide. The stick dance was performed by two men in the floor below the podium. They danced in harmony with the accompanying instruments played from the dais. The choreographer took place at one comer of the floor facing the dancers and kept watchful eyes on them. The cultural show enthralled the audience. The Iranian TV telecasted the ceremony live. Two sessions of official practice, equipment inspection and team captains meeting were also held on the opening day. Team Captains' meeting Team Captains' meeting, though most essential, is a very routine work related to any intra-national or international games and sports meet which barely merits any description. But in one respect this meeting bears a special significance and deserves mention at least in a shorter detail. A short while before the meeting drawing to conclusion Sung ho Um, Secretary General, AAF requested the Team Captains including those in whose countries the flowers of the religion of Islam (Muslims) are denominationally minority to convince their women archers to wear a scarf or veil over their heads during practice and competition. He told that AAF deputies to conduct and oversee the Champ had earlier talks with the LOC in this respect. He further entreated them that in case some female archers feel uncomfortable to put on the traditional scarf they could instead don a cap which will be cozy in chill wind which usually blows in this season in Tehran. Different coloured samples of the cap were shown to the attending captains. All agreed in a united voice to show respect to the custom of the host nation. Notably the BAF GS, an AAF EC Member and a Jury of the tournament, took necessary preparation for the Bangladesh women archers because of his beforehand knowledge of this local etiquette. He managed to procure headgears for our girls and required them to put on before landing in the Tehran airport. All female archers of the competing countries showed due respect to this local custom wearing scarf overhead in the village and the practice ground even before this meeting. They irrespective of nationality and religious belief wore scarf or the suggested cap in the venue and village till the Championship came to a close. This was a manifestation of their honour to the Olympic value of respect and the teaching and tenet of Olympism. The competition All the ten events of the Champ along with the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament styled Continental Qualification Tour took place from 20th through 24th October, 2011. In comparison with Compound bow events the athletes competing in Recurve bow events were greater in number. Around half of the participating countries took part in the Compound events. In all, 99 men and 72 women archers from 22 countries competed for 30 medals, 10 gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze. Men and women archers from 10 countries namely Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Kazakhstan, China (People's Republic of), Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, India and Thailand won medals. Iran bagged the highest number of 3 golds. They also got 2 silvers. Republic of Korea earned the highest number of medals including 2 each of gold, silver and bronze. Japan and Kazakhstan jointly achieved the 3rd largest number of medals. Japan gained 2 golds and 2 silvers and Kazakhstan 1 gold, 2 silvers and 1 bronze. Except India, Japan, Korea, People's Republic of China and Chinese Taipei contested in the Asian CQT. The Qualification Tournament for quota on entry into the London Olympiad 2012 featured only two events of Recurve Men Individual and Recurve Women Individual. 36 men and 31 women archers of 15 and 14 countries respectively from among the 22 participating countries of the Championship competed in the CQT. Of them, 3 men and 3 women archers qualified for the London Summer Olympics. Shiek Sojeb of Bangladesh narrowly missed the chance. He ranked 5th with a total score of 612. Md Emdadul Hoque Milon and Ram Krishna Salia of Bangladesh ranked 8th and 9th respectively among the 36 competitors. Their total scores were 604 and 601. Among 31 women archers Najmin Khatun ranked 14th with a total score of 552 and Mathui Prue Marma was placed in 15th position with the same score. It may be recalled that Milon was the 1st Bangladeshi athlete who qualified directly in the inaugural edition of Youth Olympic Games Singapore-2010 securing gold in Qualification Tournament held during the 16th Asian Archery Championship, Bali, Indonesia in 2009. Performance of Bangladeshi archers Bangladesh participated in the Champ with 4 men and 3 women archers. This was the 4th appearance of BAF in this highly competitive Championship. The overall performance of Bangladeshi archers specially of the male ones comprising Md Emdadul Hoque Milon, Shiek Sojeb, Ram Krishna Saha and Md Ruman Shana was better in terms of scoring than that of the previous 2009 edition of this champ. Unfortunately in the extremely cold and windy weather of the 2nd day of the competition our archers could not perform as per expectation due to lack of acclimatisation with this unfavourable condition. In Recurve Men Team and Recurve Women Team, Bangladesh attained the 9th position. In the Recurve Men Individual event Md Emdadul Hoque Milon and Shiek Sojeb rose up to 116 Elimination Round. In Recurve Women Individual event Mathui Prue Marma was able to compete in the 116 Elimination Round. Comparatively Bangladeshi archers did well in the Men and Women Team and Mixed Team Event. In the Mixed Team Event Bangladesh achieved 10th position among 18 contesting teams. The Congress The AAF Congress was held on the evening of 22nd October in Darya e Noor Hall of the Persian Esteghlal Hotel, the village of the Championship. Delegates of 27 member associations affiliated with the AAF attended the Congress of whom Bhutan, Laos, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan and Vietnam were represented by duly authorised proxies. BAF was represented in the Congress by GS and one of the Vice-Presidents who was detailed as the team manger of Bangladesh contingent. Besides Coach Nisith Das and sponsor representative Md Nazrul Haque Chowdhury also attended the Congress. Another sponsor representative Md Fazlur Rahman was unable to attend due to illness. Of the decisions taken in the Congress, the most significant one in the contest of BAF was the conferment of hosting the 20th Asian Archery Championship in Dhaka in 2017. Before the commencement of the Congress, BAF General Secretary Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol submitted an application of behalf of its executive committee to the AAF Secretary General expressing the intention to organise the event in Bangladesh in 2017. Indian Archery Federation also desired to host the same. BAF General Secretary Chapol succeeded in persuading the IAF delegates not to submit formal proposal in this behalf since India hosted the 14th edition of the Championship in Delhi in 2005. The IAF delegates agreed and voted first for BAF when the proposal of organising the 20th Asian Archery Championship-2017 was opened for discussion. The motion was carried with no vote against. Thus BAF was provisionally chosen to host the meet. The contributory factors that persuaded the Congress in selecting Dhaka preliminarily as the host city of the said Championship are the BAF credential of successfully organising the 5th Asian Archery Grand Prix, South Asian Archery Championship and simultaneously organising 3rd Asian Archery Grand Prix-2011 and 1st Asian Youth Archery Championship-2011 and the personal initiative of Mr Chapol who is also a council member of the EC of AAF. The other important decision of the Congress was the admission of Afghanistan Archery Federation into full AAF membership. A day after the Congress the Secretary General of World Archery Tom Dielen came to Tehran to see for himself the proceedings of the Championship on invitation of the organising committee. BAF GS accompanied by the Team Manager met Mr Dielen and discussed in detail the present state of archery as well as the future plan of BAF to uplift this newly introduced Olympic discipline in Bangladesh. During the brief discussion, the FITA Secretary General told that he was quite aware of the archery activities in Bangladesh and was satisfied with the gradual progress of Bangladeshi archers within a short span of time since the recognition of BAF by FITA in 2003. He also expressed optimism about the development of the sport in Bangladesh. Impressed by the archery activities in Bangladesh, BAF was given the opportunity of presenting a paper by its GS in the World Archery Management Seminar-2011 held in Laussane on 18th to 20th November-2011. Accordingly, Mr Chapol accompanied by a Continental Judge, EC Member and a Member of Training and Development Committee of BAF Md Faruque Dhali attended the Seminar delivered in collaboration of the education partner of World Archery-SINERGI Sports Consulting. The financial patronisation of the seminar came from International Foundation for the Development of Archery. It was quite encouraging to learn that the paper BAF GS Mr Chapol presented in the seminar showcasing its future action and plans for the development of archery in Bangladesh during the next 5 years earned appreciation from all delegates of the successfully concluded seminar. Some member associations of World Archery including Bulgaria and Vietnam expressed instantaneous interest to follow the Five-Year Plan presented by the BAF in their Archery FederationAssociation for the development of archery. It is sincerely hoped that this appreciation of BAF plan would further invigorate its effort and activities to enhance performance in international tournaments in the coming days. In order to achieve this most cherished goal, BAF should direct all-out efforts in the right direction with utmost sincerity and devotion. There and only there lies the real satisfaction of BAF to see its archery development plan being appreciated and followed by other member associations of World Archery.